DR Congo river boat under quarantine for Ebola after five deaths

What the report says

Congolese authorities have quarantined a riverboat carrying 255 passengers after several deaths raised concern about possible Ebola and cholera exposure, BBC Africa reported from Kinshasa. The Yingfeng 2, operated by a Chinese company, was intercepted on the Congo River near Bende Bende port, about 65 km upstream from the capital, before it could continue toward Kinshasa.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said all passengers were being screened as a precaution after a traveller who had fever and diarrhoea died in hospital following an earlier stop. BBC Africa said four more people on board also died, including two adults, a three-year-old child and a newborn. Teams from the health ministry and the World Health Organization boarded the vessel and set up a mobile laboratory for testing. Kamba said that, so far, no one had tested positive.

Security services were instructed to keep the ship offshore under quarantine in line with World Health Organization standards. The boat had left Kisangani about two weeks earlier and travelled more than 1,700 km downstream. The intervention comes as DR Congo faces its 17th Ebola outbreak, which authorities say is affecting several provinces and has prompted wider monitoring, isolation and response measures. The reporting indicates the riverboat case matters because Kinshasa is a densely populated entry point, so even a precautionary alert could affect efforts to limit spread.